Cole Palmer delivered a scintillating performance as Chelsea secured a stunning 3–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final on Sunday, held at the MetLife Stadium in New York.

Palmer netted two superb goals and provided an assist for João Pedro, all within a dominant first-half display, as the Premier League side shocked the reigning European champions to lift the title and earn a prize pot in excess of £90 million.

Goalkeeper Robert Sánchez also played a pivotal role, pulling off a string of fine saves to ensure Chelsea—seen by many as underdogs—became the inaugural winners of FIFA’s newly expanded 32-team tournament.

Tensions boiled over for PSG in the closing stages, with João Neves receiving a red card in the 85th minute for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair, a moment that epitomised the French side’s frustration.

FIFA had thrown its full weight behind making the event a marquee occasion. The final was attended by former US President Donald Trump, and featured a pre-match show including a Robbie Williams performance and a US Air Force flyover, causing a delay to kick-off. But by half-time—before Doja Cat’s half-time performance—Chelsea had already all but secured the title.

PSG came into the fixture chasing their fifth trophy of an impressive season, but were swept aside by a Chelsea team inspired by Palmer, who had previously scored the winning goal in the Conference League final.

Palmer was lively from the outset, narrowly curling wide after eight minutes following a clever flick-on by Pedro. PSG should have capitalised on that let-off when Fabián Ruiz played in Désiré Doué, but instead of taking the shot, Doué passed—and Cucurella intercepted.

Shortly after, Doué did test Sánchez, but the Spaniard was equal to the effort.

Chelsea’s breakthrough came in the 22nd minute. After a blocked effort from Malo Gusto, the ball fell to Palmer, who calmly slotted a left-footed finish into the bottom corner.

Palmer doubled the lead eight minutes later with a moment of individual brilliance—latching onto a long ball from Levi Colwill, cutting in from the right and finishing with clinical precision.

Before half-time, he turned creator—slipping a perfectly weighted pass through to Pedro, who dinked the ball over Gianluigi Donnarumma with aplomb.

Speaking at half-time, Mr Trump told DAZN he was “having a really great time”—an emotion undoubtedly shared by Chelsea’s jubilant supporters among the 81,118-strong crowd.

PSG attempted a second-half fightback, but Sánchez remained resolute—first keeping out a header from Neves, then producing a superb reflex stop to deny Ousmane Dembélé.

Liam Delap, introduced from the bench, saw a powerful strike parried by Donnarumma and went close again shortly after.

PSG’s frustration reached boiling point as Neves was shown red for his confrontation with Cucurella. Additional scuffles followed the final whistle, including an ugly clash between PSG manager Luis Enrique and Pedro during Chelsea’s on-pitch celebrations.